A Seventh-day Adventist church in the city of Ryazan, Russia, is among 12 church buildings to be featured on a series of Russian postage stamps to be issued in June.

The plan to issue the series, entitled “Worship buildings of religions and denominations of Russia,” was announced in the Russian “Philately” publication. According to Moscow sources, the idea to present a series of postage stamps featuring the architecture of temples, churches, and other houses of worship originated from the administration of the Russian president. More details about the stamps will be announced by the Ministry of Posts closer to the stamp release date.

“This is a positive and wonderful initiative,” says Valery Ivanov, church spokesperson for the Euro-Asia region of the Adventist Church with headquarters in Moscow. “The Ryazan church is representative of the newly built church structures by our church.”

The Adventist church in Ryazan, a city 180 kilometers east of Moscow with a population of 800,000, has an adult membership of nearly 300 and was built in cooperation with the California-based Faith for Today television ministry.

The building was dedicated in April 1996 by Dan Matthews, Faith For Today speaker-director. “The Ryazan church stamp initiative is an epic event,” Matthews says. “It’s exciting to learn about this development.”

The Ryazan church is a growing congregation, Matthews adds. Apart from the main congregation, the Adventist faith community includes 15 smaller groups in the area. The architectural style of the sanctuary is typical of Adventist church buildings recently built in the region.

Along with conducting worship services, the church operates a popular Faith For Today Christian Cultural Center. The center serves the community and the church by conducting seminars and other public events aimed at improving the well-being of individuals and families, says Artyom Khachaturyants, director of the center.  The programs include Bible studies, personality growth seminars for the general public, a divorce recovery program, and Stop Smoking clinics in public schools.

The Ryazan church’s cultural center is also known for its English language school, which has an enrollment of 80 children and 20 adults. In the past year the center also conducted an Alcoholics Anonymous educational program.

Due to the popularity of the programs in the community, the center is expanding its range of social and spiritual projects. In the spring, the center will offer an anger management workshop and, in cooperation with the Ryazan City Administration and the Business Ryazan Association, will hold a Christian businessmen’s conference for the city’s business community.